page_title: History of lesbianism in the United States
section_title: 1950s: Lesbianism in  literature
hierarchical_section_title: History of lesbianism in the United States / 1950–1999 / 1950s: Lesbianism in  literature
caption_attribution_description: English: Cover of "Spring Fire" by Vin Packer (Marijane Meaker) 1952 Français&#160;: Couverture de "Spring Fire" par Vin Packer (Marijane Meaker), 1952. Illustration de Barye Phillips.
context_page_description: Unless otherwise noted, the members of same-sex female couples discussed here are not known to be lesbian, but they are mentioned as part of discussing the practice of lesbianism—that is, same-sex female sexual and romantic behavior.
context_section_description: It was not until the mid-1950s that obscenity regulations began to relax and happy endings to lesbian romances became possible. However, publications addressing homosexuality were officially deemed obscene under the Comstock Act until 1958.
  Spring Fire, the first lesbian paperback novel, and considered the beginning of the lesbian pulp fiction genre, was published in 1952 and sold 1.5 million copies. It was written by lesbian author Marijane Meaker under the pen name "Vin Packer", and ended unhappily.
  1952 also saw the publication of lesbian classic The Price of Salt by lesbian author Patricia Highsmith, published under the pseudonym "Claire Morgan", in which the women break up but are implied to get back together in the end (the novel was republished as Carol in 1990 under Highsmith's name). In her 2003 memoir, Marijane Meaker said that, for many years, The Price of Salt was "the only lesbian novel, in either hard or soft cover, with a happy ending".
caption: Cover of Spring Fire (1952), the first lesbian paperback novel, by Vin Packer (pen name of Marijane Meaker)
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